'Duets' Week 2 performance rounds: Live blog

It's Week 2 of ABC's new singing competition show Duets, where veteran performers Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Robin Thicke and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles team up with aspiring singers competing for a record deal.

On last week's premiere, the judges on the show got the chance to pick the two singers they'll be working with. Tonight, they all take to the stage again to sing classic duets with the contestants. Join Digital Spy for all the action from 8pm!

22:02And that's it folks - Alexis comes in at number six, which means Olivia Chisholm and Jason Farol are officially the bottom two. When asked what he thinks about this week's show Robin says that he's just happy for the "free concert" he gets to sit on with Jennifer, Kelly, and John. Yep, that's pretty much what it feels like - a free concert, with nothing really feeling that much at stake for the superstars or the amateurs.

Next week is the first ever Duets showdown, where two contestants will be in danger of elimination. Tune in on Thursday (June 7) at 8pm with Digital Spy to check out the results!

21:54The other superstars weigh in. Kelly disagrees with Jennifer Nettles, who says the two had great chemistry. The former American Idol winner says: "I thought it was very disconnected as a duet". After the break we find out Alexis' score, which decides the final score for all the contestants and who's up for the chopping block next week!

21:50And now the final duet of the night, Robin Thicke and Alexis Foster, who sang Robin's song 'Magic' last week and came in at number 3. Like most of the contestants this episode, Alexis is struggling with confidence, but hopes to turn out a more impressive performance tonight. The pair are singing Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 'You're All I Need To Get By'. Alexis sounds great, but she seems frightened. Does anyone on this show have swag? Or has Robin Thicke sucked up all the swag in the room?

21:42J Rome holds his own in a performance that is, effectively, a mini Broadway show. Since 'You're the One That I Want' is more Sandy than Danny-centric, I'm not sure if it was the best choice to showcase J Rome's voice. Kelly Clarkson makes the same point, she says that the song wasn't as "challenging" as it could be.

John Legend agrees. "You get a ten for your presence and a ten for your pelvic thrusting," Robin says: "You have a great chance to win this thing." Will J Rome make it to number one? Yes! He's tied for first place with Meleana.

21:36Jennifer Nettles makes a bold choice tonight by having contestant J Rome sing 'You're the One That I Want' from the musical Grease. Her other contestant John Glosson was already criticized for being "Broadway-ish", let's hope we don't have similar comments for J Rome, who came in number one last week.

21:30After the performance, Jason is critiqued by the other superstars. John Legend says, "It seems so much like you're looking to [Kelly Clarkson] for approval, it's almost like the umbilical cord... you have to open up to the audience a little bit more."

Robin says that the performance was a huge difference from last week, but agrees that Jason needs to stop relying on Kelly. Where does Jason stack up on the chart? Number 7, only just above Olivia Chisolm's horrific performance earlier.

21:26Jason Farol came in dead last on the first show, so tonight he really has to bring it. Mentor Kelly Clarkson says the only thing they have to work on this week is having confidence. Singing 'Whenever You Call' by Mariah Carey and Brian McKnight, the singing duo take the stage and already Jason looks quite nervous. He keeps awkwardly shuffling from side to side. John Legend looks dubious about the whole thing.

21:16What do the other superstars think? More food analogies from Robin Thicke, who likens John and Meleana's performance to a perfect sandwich with "not too much onion and some Provolone". Kelly warns that she shouldn't try to be perfect because "heart matters so much more than the right note". The score? Meleana comes in at number one on her first night!

21:11John chose Meleana Brown! He's singing on the piano while Meleana, glammed up in a beautiful silver dress, belts out the song made famous by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie.

21:06Whoa! John Legend's amateur Johnny Gray is no longer in the competition due to personal issues. So John has to do a rapid fire audition to find a new contestant. He found two singers, Mario and Meleana, who had to learn a song in just 24 hours to be chosen for the broadcast.

Meleana sings 'Endless Love' with him, while Mario sings 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'. We find out after the break who John chooses to sing with on the show!

20:53Robin's soulful voice is basically overtaking Olivia completely. She looks as bored as I am by this performance. This is awful, and hence I cannot look away. Cannot wait for the shady comments from the other singers! Jennifer Nettles points out that Olivia seemed a little too nervous, and Kelly says that Olivia has "a very cool texture" to her voice, but that the song wasn't great. With the scores locked in, Olivia comes in last at number four. She awkwardly walks off stage. Poor thing.

20:51Tonight Robin and Olivia Chisholm are singing 'Where is the Love' by the Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, which Olivia says she's never heard of. Robin wants Olivia to "take control of the stage and use [her] beauty". In other words he wants her to flirt shamelessly with him. During the rehearsals, Olivia didn't even learn the lyrics! Yikes... let's see.

20:45And I hope you all caught Robin Thicke booty-poppin' on Jennifer Nettles right before the commercial break. Bet you won't see that on The Voice!

20:44Listen. I'm just going to say it: They. Sound. Amazing. This is amazing. John and Jennifer are doing an amazing rendition of Marvin Gaye's song. I have nothing to add! The superstars' reactions are not as positive. Kelly says: "It kind of looks... a little cheesy. But I think you're so talented, and I think you're going far in this competition." Jennifer Nettles shoots death glares in her direction. Robin Thicke says he thinks it was the wrong song for John. And John Legend says it was a little "Broadway-ish". Ouch.

20:38Next up, Jennifer Nettles and John Glosson. Last week, John came in number four with a phenomenal debut on the Duets stage. Tonight, John and Jennifer are singing the truly classic Marvin Gaye song 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'. Jennifer is nervous, because John Legend just did a whole tribute show to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On album - so tonight they plan on doing a very faithful rendition.

20:32I will say this - Kelly Clarkson hasn't been more likeable since her amazing, Oscar-worthy turn in From Justin to Kelly. She's so sassy tonight! Amazing performance between her and Jordan, although I don't know if Jordan sang well enough to secure a high position on the scoreboard.

Robin Thicke says: "I felt like at the beginning of the song you gave me the misery...and then when you got to the end, there were a couple big notes you didn't quite finish as strong as you started." John Legend also critiques her "pitchiness" during the high notes, and says she uses Kelly as a crutch. Agreed. She's not able to dislodge Bridget from number one in the final score - something tells me she'll be plummeting as the night continues...

20:26We get a glimpse of rehearsals between Kelly and her amateurs Jason Farol and Jordan Meredith. Kelly and Jordan sang 'Stronger' last week, and Kelly says "she didn't get enough moments to shine" with the song. This week, they're singing 'Misery' by Pink. Not exactly classic but, OK. Jordan says she's super nervous - she shouldn't be! She was honestly robbed last week of a top 5 spot. Here they go.

20:19Bridget says she feels "real good" singing with John Legend. "I'm having a good time, but it's also a bit of a fight," she explains.

Some positive feedback from the judges, Jennifer Nettles says that Bridget "definitely raised the bar" for the night. Robin Thicke says that she looks like a bag of Skittles. "And I definitely love Skittles." Amazing commentary. Bridget comes in at number 1, only because, of course, she's the first performer of the night! Let's see if she can hold the spot.

20:16John and Bridget take to the stage, and while they both sound great there's something about this performance that just feels stale. I can't decide if it's them, or the show itself? Duets has eliminated the reality TV trope of showing the whole auditioning process like on shows such as American Idol, which makes the contestants feel a lot more distant than if we'd been following them from the very start. Or maybe that's just a fancy way to say this performance is boring.

20:11A closer look at one of the first amateurs of the night - Bridget Carrington. Last week, she sang 'Tonight' with John Legend. It wasn't exactly the best performance to be perfectly honest, but this week John says that now that he "understands her voice", he knows what song she should be singing. This week, in keeping with the classic duets theme, it's Aretha Franklin and George Michael's 'I Knew You Were Waiting For Me'. Good luck to them both - those are some big shoes to fill.

20:07Here we see a montage of some of last week's amazing performances between Jennifer Nettles and her partners J Rome and John Glosson, as well as Kelly Clarkson and her partners Jordan Meredith and Jason Farol - both of whom ended up in the bottom two. Kelly says of their chances: "I'm looking forward to this show...it's a brand new show."

20:03Wow. Robin and Kelly take to the stage for the opener with a sexy duet, Michael Jackson's 'State of Shock'. The performance is complete with back up dancers and some pretty impressive pyro.

20:02So if you haven't seen it, the way it works is that the judges all vote on each other's performances - and the scores dictate who goes on to each round. Tonight, the bottom two will be up for elimination in next week's acapella rounds. The current leaderboard:

19:59Here we go! This is only the second episode of ABC's new show, but already there have been some comparisons to another rather popular singing contest, The Voice. I'm not sure if Duets completely stacks up to the competition - its ratings last week weren't exactly stellar either. But maybe it will redeem itself this week? Let's see what happens!